Mother-Daughter Book Club. It Worked! Next Book...

No, it's not Hanukkah.  It's our Anne Frank/WWII/Jewish history book club.  I was really pleased with our first meeting.  Along with our discussion of the diary of Anne Frank, the kids made simple Stars of David to remind them that the Jews in Europe during that time period had to wear a yellow Star of David.  Araceli put red glitter on her star, which is probably disrespectful, but reminded us of the youthful spirit of so many of the children who died in concentration camps.  We talked about the Holocaust, what it must have felt like to be a young girl living in hiding, and the tragedy of Anne dying.  She had so much to give!  The discussion was great, and the girls had a lot of insight.  Much more focused on the book than the discussion at grown-up book club, which invariably strays to labor and delivery and/or breastfeeding.  Am I right, girls?  But I love it!

We also read Tuck Everlasting for the younger kids, including our token boys, Freestone and Ethan.  Boys ARE invited!  :)  We got into a pretty good discussion on Tuck Everlasting, too, about whether we would have drunk the water, and at what age, and what it would be like to live forever and never change.  For refreshments, we had spring water that may or may not have had Fountain of Youth powers (we'll have to wait and find out), and windmill cookies, German Chocolate cookies and delicious chocolate cookies that Julie brought.  Thank you!

So, the book for February, by consensus, is The Secret Garden by Francis Hodgson Burnett.  I don't keep many books, but The Secret Garden was a member of my permanent collection of Dell Yearling books when I was a kid, I loved it so much.  And its going to be fun to have an indoor garden party in February!  If you didn't come this time, open that door to the secret garden and come next time.  It's great having an hour where kids can talk about what they've read and observed, and learn from each other.   I lend and borrow books from my book club friends, Thursday lunch friends, blog friends, my mom and my neighbors, too.  I guess I'm trying to give that same sense of community to my kids, because I couldn't live without it, and I hope they never have to.